


Welcome to Ogygia! Population: 0

by nailbitten



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Argo II (Percy Jackson), Leo is bi, M/M, No Calypso (involved), POV Alternating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-18
Updated: 2018-08-03
Packaged: 2019-03-18 01:44:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13671678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nailbitten/pseuds/nailbitten
Summary: Leo and Nico are just beginning to form a peaceful bond, but when they both get tossed up into the sky by Khione and land alone on Ogygia (left behind after the gods freed Calypso according to Percy's request) they're forced to rely on each other for both comfort and survival as they fear the end of the world may just come about due to an ill-timed vacation.Takes place beginning on the Argo II, roughly just before Nico's encounter with Cupid, and ends after the war.





	1. Sleeping in the Stables

**Author's Note:**

> Here she is folks! My valdangelo fic. I hope you guys enjoy this since it's 100x better imo than my other mess.

***Nico***

After a while of being back on the ship, Nico came to terms with the fact that he absolutely _loathed_ being there. What really got to him, of all things, was the shame - he hated being surrounded by these normal people as it was, and he knew he woke up the entire crew each night with his screaming. He didn't want to feel guilty about his nightmares, but he did. It wasn't his fault, but he was still troubling everyone else. That's why he didn't talk much. That's why he tried to stay out of sight. That's why he was sleeping in the stables.

It was as far from the other rooms as he could get while still being in the ship. It was kind of uncomfortable, but not the worst place he'd ever slept. He shadow-traveled the short distance with his blanket and pillow and made himself cozy. Everything went according to plan, until he woke to Leo's palms on his shoulders.

Nico shoved him away, panicked. Leo's head made a dull  _thunk_ as it struck a wooden beam behind him and he groaned. After fiddling with something (his tool belt, Nico guessed) in the dark for a moment, he produced a flashlight. Nico glared up at him.

"What, beds too mainstream for you?" He rubbed the back of his head. "-Hey, I'm kidding. I sleep down here, too. Well, in the engine room, not in the stables. Why  _are_ you sleeping in the stables?"

"I'm trying to be courteous. Why do  _you_ sleep down here?" Nico asked, annoyed that his plan had failed.

"Room's crowded with stuff. It's too dangerous. I like it down here better, anyways. And sleeping in the stables is kind of a weird way to show courtesy." 

Nico realized Leo had never been woken up by him before. He must have been too far away from the others.

"...It's because I scream? Every night?" He elaborated. Leo stared back, clearly lost. "It wakes the others up?"

"Oh. Oh! I get it. Maybe I can soundproof your room?" He suggested.

Nico paused. "I... guess?"

"It'll take a while, probably a few days." He yawned. "I should write it down."

"...Okay?"

"You can stay down here, I guess. I'd move closer to the engine room if I were you, though. It's chilly in here."

"Closer to where  _you_ sleep? Did you miss the part where I wake up screaming every night?"

"I didn't. Trust me. You can get real loud for someone who never talks. But it's gonna wake me up anyways."

Nico couldn't believe it.  _He's fine with this? Really? He just signed up for a thrice-a-night wake-up-call?_

"D'ya want like a night light or a stuffed animal or-"

"No."

"Just checked. 'Cause I won't tell anyone. I slept with a teddy til I was like-"

"Don't care."

"Fine then. Goodnight,"

"Doubt it," Nico muttered to his back.

After Leo disappeared into the engine room and closed the door, Nico waited in the dark. Eventually he took the flashlight he had left behind and moved closer to the door. It  _was_ warmer. Probably a little  _too_ warm inside - then, for a child of Hephaestus,  _too warm_ probably didn't exist. He settled down, hoping to get as close to a full night's rest as he could.

 

***Leo***

Leo was a little freaked by Nico. Who  _wouldn't_ be? He was seriously scary when he got mad, and creepy in his best of moods. But Leo wasn't an ass. What was he supposed to do? Make him sleep outside? No way. He'd show some hospitality. Then maybe if Nico ever went rogue he'd be on the guy's good side. 

He glanced at the note he left himself the night before. He'd have to make some changes to Nico's room from the interior - he could probably pull thin boards of some kind of denser material from his tool belt with ease and find some way to pad the cracks in his door. Maybe not the most fashionable design choice, but it would help muffle the noise, at least. He didn't feel like going into his room unannounced, though, and Nico was no longer in the stables. Leo spoke up when he noticed he wasn't there at breakfast.

"Where's Nico?" He asked to no one in particular.

The table went silent. Jason raised his eyebrows. 

"What?" 

"Nothing, just thought... you'd be the last to notice," He said.

"I need to ask him somethin'," 

"Don't bother him, Leo. He's going through a rough time..." Hazel said sincerely.

"I'm not!" Leo defended himself. "I need to do some maintenance in his room."

"Maintenance?" Jason asked.

"Minor structural changes." He elaborated.

"You're soundproofing it, aren't you?" 

"Perhaps."

"He's probably up in the crow's nest doing lookout. That's where he usually is," Hazel said. "Did he ask you to do this?"

"He agreed to it?"

Hazel only frowned. He guessed she was afraid he was doing something offensive, but as far as he was concerned he was just trying to help Nico out. No one should be sleeping in stables. Unless they were a centaur, maybe. He wondered how Chiron slept. 

After breakfast Leo went out onto the deck and began to climb. He appreciated the help, really - now that he thought of it (as he didn't think about Nico much at all before), Nico was probably responsible for 90% of their advanced warnings. But he wished he had installed an elevator or something. His arms were sore and Nico didn't pay him anything for his trouble.

"What do you want?" He didn't turn to face Leo. He looked kind of cool, staring out into the distance with his arms folded over the ledge. And pissed. But he always looked pissed.

"I didn't want to go into your room without permission," He explained.

"I don't care."

"Oh. Alright." Leo paused, feeling awkward. "It's nice up here."

"Yes. It's even nicer when you're alone."

"Oh, is it?" He asked. Nico glared at him. "Oh- right. Yeah, okay. I'll get going."

He carefully lowered himself back onto the ladder, then paused. 

"There's nothing scary in there, right? No skeletons or cursed arti-"

" _Go._ "

"'Kay."

Leo shook his arms when he was back on deck, then jogged to Nico's room. He didn't need to jog, but he found that the faster he moved, the less he was bothered. Nico's room was mostly empty, and not at all scary. His bed was bare and there was no clutter around the place; basically, he had no personal items. It was a harsh contrast to Leo's own room. First he made a note of the measurements of the walls - numbers he couldn't remember off the top of his head. Then he pulled the mattress off the bed and unscrewed part of the bed frame from the wall. The furniture was all fixed into the walls and floors - it had to be, so it wouldn't be thrown around the room. This made it difficult to get to the walls, but, then, Leo wasn't anticipating needing to get to the walls. He'd have to pull the dresser up from the floor entirely. He was crawling around on the floor, trying to figure out how to go about doing that, when Nico appeared. He stood in the doorway quietly.

"Oh- Jesus, you scared the Hell outta me. What?" Leo said, still laying on the floor.

"I wanted to see if you were snooping around," He said simply.

"What, don't trust me?" Leo grinned. Nico stared back at him. "...Alright, well, if you're going to be here anyways, wanna lend me a hand?"

"Not particularly." He said, sitting on his bed.

"Great! Lay these on the bed for me, wouldya?" He began to pull out a long plank of wood-like material, more-or-less forcing it towards Nico, who reluctantly took it from his hands and laid it beside himself. Leo handed him about a dozen planks before telling him to move over.

"Stupid furniture," He complained, leaning into the gap between the wall and bed to position the plank. "Need a nail gun..."

"Is this actually going to work?" Nico asked. Leo couldn't see him, but he imagined he looked grumpy as ever.

"Should. These walls are hollow," He knocked on the wood to demonstrate. "Might not be dead quiet, but it'll be better."

"Great."

"Yep."

There was silence. Leo was quickly bored, but he didn't know how to carry a conversation with the boy. He knew it would be a train wreck, but he tried anyways. 

"You feeling better lately?" He asked.

"Not really."

"Oh. Because you look better. Healthier, I mean." That was barely true. He looked dead. But sometimes he did look slightly  _less_ dead.

"...Okay."

"It's been a tough month for ya, huh?"

"...Yeah..."

It took all of his strength to shut his mouth. Alarm bells were ringing in his head - this was a dangerous topic.

"Sorry. Probably don't want to talk about that, huh?"

"...Yeah..."

"Well, what do you want to talk about?"

"Nothing."

"Oh."

Of course he didn't want to talk. But the silence was painful. After a few moments he tried again.

"You know, we -  _I_ really appreciate what you've done for us. 'Cause, I mean, you've done a lot. Like, way more than I've ever done. And-" He looked up, hoping to catch any kind of new expression on his face, but he only found a blank wall. "-you left. 'Course. Cool."

He was nearly done with the wall before Hazel interrupted him. 

"What's up?" He asked, distracted.

" _What's up?_ Can't you feel the ship -" She wobbled, "rocking?"

"The shi-" He stood, pausing as he noted the irregular motion with his feet. "Ah, Hell."

Leo didn't really care what did the damage. What was important was that he fix it. And after he fixed it, they ate lunch. And while they ate, Nico nibbled, seeming somehow so far away from everyone else despite being seated right next to Hazel. Leo retreated to his room to work on some personal projects, and before he knew it, another one of the crew was dragging him to another problem. He forgot completely about soundproofing Nico's room until he passed the boy on his evening stroll through the ship (which he only did because every night he found at least one light someone forgot to turn off or something of the like). He was huddled up in his blanket, seemingly un-bothered by the light still on in the stables. He paused to set down a small, dim lamp before plunging the room into darkness He wondered just what it was that drew him to being kind to Nico. It wasn't pity - he couldn't pity Nico. Maybe he was just a good person. He definitely wasn't a bad person. So surely he was good, right? He figured that must have been it. He was just a good guy, so of course he would help someone like Nico out. That was all. 

He closed the door to the engine room as quietly as he could and settled in for the night, well aware that he would be waking up sooner than expected. He came to terms with it, reminding himself as he fell asleep that he wasn't the one having the nightmares.


	2. Chapter 2

***Nico***

Nico didn't  _really_ hate Leo. Sure, he was nosy, loud, tactless, annoying, impulsive, stupid - actually,  _did_ he hate him? He wasn't sure. He guessed not. He had no real reason to hate him. He was a nice, friendly person... but, gods above, he must have been crazy. He  _complimented_ him. He  _thanked_ him. That was flat out insane. How was Nico supposed to react to that? He didn't know, so he left right away, shadow-traveling to the deck and scaring Frank half to death. He felt kind of bad about that - ignoring Leo, not scaring Frank - but there wasn't much else he could do. And that night when he began the hour long struggle of drifting to sleep, he felt glad that Leo was such a fast worker. Surely his room would be done soon. Maybe even the next day. Then there would be no more sleeping in the stables. And no more waking up to Leo's sleepy face several times a night. 

Speaking of waking up; the second time he did that night he did so, he found Leo beside him. Not right up next to him, but with his back against the engine room's door. He shook Nico awake almost absentmindedly. Nico sat up, confused and preemptively annoyed. 

"What are you doing?" Nico asked.

"Couldn't fall asleep. I was thinking - the problem isn't really the fact that you're screaming, it's  _why._ Even if I soundproof your room, you still have nightmares..."

"Your point?"

"It's not a solution. It's just making the problem go away for everyone else," Leo fidgeted with something in his hands Nico couldn't quite make out. "As much as I enjoy convenience, that's not fair."

"That's not an issue you can solve."

Leo smiled, clearly tired. "True. I'm a mechanic, not a psychologist. But I should at least give it a shot. I've been making a list of things that help people sleep better."

Nico didn't really care. He knew that a night light and a warm glass of milk weren't going to help him. But Leo spoke in a way that was so invested, like he legitimately wanted to solve this problem.

_Because that's all you are to him. A problem._

He must have made a face, because Leo began to talk quickly. "There's, like, standard stuff. Warmth, comfort, peaceful sounds. But then I thought, maybe something more like meditation? Like guiding your mind away from negativity or whatever? I don't know. I'm sure you have something that comforts you."

Nico realized that was a question after he stopped speaking. "Maybe."

"Yeah? So, what is it?"

"I don't know. I can't think of anything."

"Oh." He was clearly disappointed. "...I'll just keep thinking on it."

"Good luck," Nico turned away from him and pulled his blanket over his head. He wasn't tired at all, but he guessed he had a few more hours until daylight. He hoped Leo wouldn't keep himself up all night. He knew the ship needed him.

 

***Leo***

Leo did eventually take a nap (after moving back into the engine room, of course) for a few hours before he was drug up for breakfast. Nico was there this time, poking at a few grapes sitting on his plate. Eventually he picked one up and placed it in his mouth. He cringed like he was chewing on gravel. Leo didn't understand how eating could be painful for someone. Was it his teeth? His tongue? His throat? He wished that he could take Nico apart like he was a machine and fix all of those not-so-little problems. But he feared that most of the guy's issues were mental. The human brain wasn't such a simple thing.

Leo was busy in the days that followed. Eventually Nico left to retrieve Diocletian's scepter, and while the rest of the crew waited for them they were kept plenty busy. When he returned later, he seemed to be in a worse mood than usual, giving Leo even less incentive to bother him.

Then Khione appeared. By the time Nico came back out on deck, it was too late for him to do anything. They were both flung up into the clouds, and as they came falling back down, Leo  _knew_ something was wrong. There was no ship, no land - only a small island in the middle of the open sea.

 

***Nico***

Nico came to on a beach

This was immediately alarming because he knew they were meant to be on a  _boat_ in the  _ocean_. For that reason, he kept his eyes closed, just a bit longer, hoping it was just a dream.

"What the Hell?"

Nico groaned and opened his eyes, pushing himself off the ground. He could feel wet sand in his hair. Leo was a few years away, equally dazed and covered in sand. He looked around and saw they were on an island - a hilly one, with a path leading upwards and no docks, ships, or people in sight. Nothing.

"Where are we?" Leo asked expectantly. Nico shrugged. He tried to think about myths concerning islands. There were a few that came to mind, none of which seemed quite right.  _Think, think. Where are you?_

Wait.

"Oh, no," Nico realized where they were.

"What? Where are we?" Leo asked. "Please tell me that was a good  _oh no_."

"Ogygia."

"Who?"

"That's the island. Ogygia. It's where the gods trapped Calypso."

"Trapped? That doesn't sound good," Leo spun around to get a second look. "But, if she's trapped, where is she?"

"She  _was_ trapped. Percy had her freed, but the island is still here..."

"So, what? If she's not here, then the island should be normal, right?"

"The island itself is magic. You can only find it if you aren't looking for it. The whole thing is enchanted. Which means the curse is probably still here."

"But we aren't Calypso,"

Nico sighed, shaking his head. Leo just didn't get it. "That's not the problem. Calypso was cursed to live on this island forever, but that wasn't all. Every now and then, a hero gets trapped here and can only leave once she falls in love with them. But Calypso isn't  _here_ ,"

Leo thought about that for a moment. "If she's not here... then maybe the curse is, like, null?"

"Maybe." It seemed like wishful thinking. But maybe, just maybe they could catch a break.

"So... let's just build a raft and get outta here."

"And be alone in the middle of the Mediterranean? You'd have a fair shot, but I'm a child of Hades. We'd be overwhelmed in an instant."

"Alright, do you have any ideas, then?" Leo asked, placing his hands on his hips defiantly. 

Nico ignored his tone and knelt down, placing a palm on the ground. He couldn't feel the Underworld. That was a no.

"I'll try to shadow-travel us back to the ship, then." He decided, marching off to a shaded area under the trees. Leo followed him reluctantly, and Nico grabbed his arm a bit too tightly. 

The world wobbled around them - something was wrong. Nico felt the shadows wrap around them both and spit them out further down shore. They landed a few yards away.

"So much for that," Leo said after spitting sand from his mouth.

"Maybe... the others can find us."

"But you said you can only find the island by accident."

Nico stared out at the water, thinking hard. The island wasn't a place in the "real world", there's no way someone else would be able to find it. Even if Calypso's personal curse was lifted, the island was still enchanted the same way. Even if the others figured out they were at Ogygia, they wouldn't be able to do anything about it.

"Any other ideas?" Leo asked.

"We build a raft and hope we don't get swallowed whole by a sea monster."

"Genius plan! Couldn't have thought up a better one myself."

Nico sighed. All he could do was hope that the ship was somehow nearby. Maybe they'd just reappear next to it. Or at least close to land. Land wasn't great, but it was better than being on a raft in the middle of the sea.

Leo wanted to go out looking for driftwood, but Nico pointed out that the path probably led to where Calypso lived. It was better to check there first. Immediately upon going up the path, though, they noticed how wildly overgrown the area had become. There were grapevines and plants everywhere; what looked like a garden filled with decaying vegetables. They navigated the greenery into a cave. It was divided with curtains into separate rooms and was filled with usual household things. A dusty harp leaned in the corner, a bare loom, a large pot empty and hanging over the charred remains of a fire. Vines clung to the walls, not taking over the area entirely but more so invading it.

"Cool cave." Leo said.

"Go make your raft." 

Leo stared at the walls a second longer, admiring the crystals, then turned and left. Nico wandered around a few minutes longer, hoping somehow he'd find something - some kind of message, maybe, left behind by Calypso or a god or anything at all that explained why the island was still there and how it worked. 

Eventually he gave up and left, making his way back down to the shore. He followed Leo's footprints in the sand and quickly found him a ways away from where they crashed, dragging wood from under a pile of sand. Celestial bronze shone in the sunlight, and speaking of sunlight, the sun seemed like it would be setting soon. 

Leo seemed content with the stash of junk he had found. He pulled tools from his belt, nailing planks of wood together until he made a shabby looking raft. A roughly shaped oar sat on the sand beside it.

"Are you sure about this?" Nico asked doubtfully.

"It'll hold. We need to get out of here ASAP, right?"

"If all else fails we can just wait for a giant sea monster of loom over us and I can shadow-travel us away." Nico decided. It was a stupid idea, but it  _would_ probably work. And anyways, Leo was right, they needed to get back to the ship quickly. 

Leo pushed the raft forward until half of it was floating in the water. Nico sat on it tentatively and was surprised to not hear any kind of creaking or snapping. He guessed that was a good sign. Leo settled next to him and pushed on the shore hard until the raft set out on the water. He took the oar and they made their way away from the island.

Those peaceful waves from a moment before quickly became violent. Nico grabbed the side of the raft with both hands as the water began to rock them violently. As the waves grew taller, Nico wondered if this was one of those good things that just  _seemed_ bad. Then, about ten feet above land, they were tossed over, spilling into the water. They were spat out on shore a few seconds later, both of them sputtering and soaking wet. Nico rolled over onto his back, raising his head to watch the broken remains of their raft drift back to them on smooth, calm water. He sighed and stood.

"So much for that," Leo laughed nervously, scratching his sand-coated hair.

"The world's ending and we're stuck gods-know-where on a magic island. Hilarious." 

"What do we do?"

"Wait. What else? Maybe Gaea won't notice this place and we'll live out a peaeful eternity in the tropics, all alone." Nico spat. 

"Uh, Nico..."

"We have to keep trying. Build something stronger. Maybe the magic's weak or something, who knows." Nico turned to give him a serious look. "But no one's coming to save us. We either get out on our own or we don't leave at all."

"Alright, fine. I'll build a boat."

"Go ahead."

Nico returned to the cave for no reason other than the fact that he felt like he would explode with frustration if he stayed near Leo a moment longer. He sat crossed legged against a wall beside the entrance, watching water drip from his hair and onto the stone floor and thinking. He thought about how to contact the outside world. About how the island's magic could work. He kept thinking until he realized suddenly that the sun was setting, even though he felt that it hadn't been that long at all. He was filled with that sickening feeling again - that sense that time wasn't quite right. He hadn't noticed it in the Lotus Casino at first, but it was afterwards, thinking about his time there that he felt it. Time was lost, passing too quickly despite feeling like it was slower than usual. This was that same feeling. An hour on the island wasn't the same as an hour in reality, and it worried him to think that they had less time each day to get out. That it might've already been a full day for the rest of the crew. That it could've been a week, a month, a year, and they wouldn't know. 

They needed to get off that island as fast as possible. Nico wasn't looking forward to returning to the real world another eighty years later. Especially if eighty years without Leo meant a destroyed world.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the super long delay. I have an some important tests coming up, but sometime around mid-June I should have enough free time to start updating this more regularly. Hope you all enjoy despite the wait!  
> Oh, by the way, I've only fished once when I was like... eight. But I'm pretty sure it's this straightforward, yeah?  
> (My wifi is awful, by the way, and the windows 10 update is about to force itself on my computer. So, long story short- I have to get this out right now, since it's possible tonight I will lose everything on my laptop. I've been trying to upload this chapter for about thirty minutes now, so if something looks weird, it's probably because it reversed one of my edits or something.)

***Leo***

It was almost dark by the time Nico came back. Leo barely noticed until the boy tripped over a plank of wood in the darkness and cursed. Leo looked down at him as he held a hand to his foot. His clothes were different. They were rudimentary - a simple two-piece shirt with a deep neck and held together at the sides by clumsy, mostly visible stitching. He was still wearing his dark jeans, though Leo imagined they were as stiff and wrinkled as his own clothes.

"I found some clothes she left behind. She must have made them herself," He explained. 

"Oh. Good." Leo shrugged uncomfortably. "Uh, is there anything-"

"I pulled something out for you."

Leo smiled. He wasn't really sure why he was smiling, just that he felt like smiling. 

"There's a lot of storage in there. Most of it is filled with cloth," Nico turned his head, following the shore with his eyes. "I made a make-shift mattress. You can take the bed."

"You sure?" Leo wasn't sure just how comfortable that would be. Then again, Nico  _had_  slept in the stables for a while, but something about making him sleep on a cave floor made Leo feel bad.

"I'm sure. Let's call it a night." 

"I can work a little longer. I have a flashlight," Leo flicked it on, proud of the bright light.

"Dark scary magic island. At night. All alone. Sounds like fun. See you tomorrow, then." He turned on his heels and went back the way he came.

Leo didn't think it was fair for  _him_  to call the island  _dark_ and  _scary_ , but after he did, he started to wonder if it was. Sure, it was getting dark. That helped make things spooky. And the way you can't really hear things coming up to you in the sand - and how thick the greenery was - and how the wind picked up as the sun sunk further below the horizon - and - ...

Leo dropped what he was doing on his makeshift workbench (okay, it wasn't really a workbench, per se; it was just a plank of wood he had placed purposefully down in the sand so he felt like his workplace was organized) and walked quickly, following Nico back to the cave. He was much more comfortable with their sleeping arrangements when he saw the absolute mess of fabric on the floor. That Calypso girl  _clearly_  loved weaving - though maybe it was just that there wasn't much else to do on the island. Other than, say, building an actual house instead of living in a cave. Just a thought. Nico dropped down nonchalantly into the pile he had made in the corner, sitting crossed legged against the wall. He didn't seem to be looking at anything in particular. Leo sat on the bed and peered at him through the dark.

"What?" Nico asked bluntly.

"Nothing."

He sighed and laid down, turning towards the wall. Leo shut up for a for moments. It would be better not to talk, but something was bugging him.

"You think they're looking for us?" He finally asked.

Nico didn't move. "Of course they're looking for you. Why wouldn't they be?"

Leo went quiet.

"I said  _us._ "

"Go to sleep."

Leo stared at the ceiling for a while before falling into a dreamless sleep. He wasn't sure how long he'd been asleep for, only that it was still dark when he woke. It took him a second to realize what had woken him, and he scrambled over himself trying to navigate the unfamiliar environment in the darkness. Nico hadn't been so lucky - Leo was too hazy at the moment to think about why, but he later realized that something about the island was stopping  _any_ communication, in or out. That included dreams, which meant that not only could they not see what was happening on the outside; no one from the outside would be able to grasp what happened to them. More immediately, though, that meant that Nico's dreams were in no way magical. They must've been entirely based on his memories. Entirely psychological. Leo wished again that there was something he could do, but this only proved further that the problem was entirely out of his area of specialty. 

And that didn't seem to be the  _only_  mental issues the guy had, either. Really, what was up with what he said earlier? Leo  _clearly_  said  _us_. Are they looking for  _us_. The both of them. But Nico disregarded that with no hesitation. Did he not think of himself as being part of the group? As being a friend? It was this that kept him tossing and turning, as often as he tried to get back to sleep. Even when he did drift away for a while, he'd reemerge from his sleep with the same thoughts and questions fresh in his mind. As the sky began to lighten, he sat up, feeling exceptionally fidgety. 

Okay, so Leo didn't always think that way, either. But Nico actually knew these people, and he should've known them well. He had more titles to work with, he had been around longer. He wasn't just himself - he was a brother, a powerful ally, a child of the Big Three. Kind of prestigious, kind of terrifying... An actual  _hero_. Leo was just Leo. He shouldn't have felt like Leo would be more of a priority.

Or, worse. Maybe it was just that Nico didn't think he would be missed. He spun a small wrench between his fingers, his leg bouncing anxiously.  _Did he feel hated? Insecure? Excluded? Unneeded?_

 The wrench spun from his hand, clanging loudly on the floor. Nico shot up, clearly startled.

"Sorry, sorry," Leo apologized, quickly retrieving his wrench and tucking it away into his belt.

Nico groaned and stumbled to his feet. He sat on the only chair at the only table in the room. Leo got up and went outside. The garden was overgrown, sure, but there had to be  _something_  edible in there. Sure enough, he found there was an assortment of fruits which... honestly probably shouldn't have been there. He was pretty sure that plums weren't tropical. Or were they? It wasn't as though Leo was a fruit expert or anything, so he just plucked some apples and didn't think much further than that. After rinsing them in a collection of rainwater by the cave (long since overflown due to it not being drawn from in who knows how long) he left them on the table, scooting the bed closer so he could sit in front of Nico. Leo took a small knife from his belt and cut up the fruit, offering him a slice. He accepted it.

"...Does it hurt?" Leo asked after a moment. It  _seemed_  like it hurt. He chewed on the slice of fruit for entirely too long, swallowing it like it was medicine.

Nico looked vaguely surprised. "...Kind of? Not how you think. My body... isn't used to food."

"Oh." Leo didn't really understand, but he didn't want to push it. At least he got some kind of answer - he counted that as a win. 

"How long until the boat is done?" 

"Not long. Another day or two, depending. Needs to be strong, but I don't want to mess around here too long." 

 He only nodded. That must have been what he wanted to hear. Well, realistically, he probably wanted to hear that it would be done much sooner. But the truth was that there weren't many supplies around, and it was kind of hard to get suitable boat-building material together. It wasn't as though he had a readily accessible stock of everything he needed. If he did, this would go by so much faster. But he didn't, so there was no point thinking about that any longer. All Leo could do was work hard. The same as always. 

 

***Nico***

Nico really didn't like relying on blind luck. Unfortunately, that was all they had at the moment. He supposed blind luck and Leo wasn't the worst deal ever, though. After all, there were worse people to get stuck on an island with than a hyperactive mechanic. He just hoped he knew what he was doing.

He ended up wandering around for most of the morning. There wasn't much for him to do, really. The island wasn't very big at all, and even after walking around for hours he didn't find anything of any real use. He wasn't sure what exactly it was that he was looking for, but he sure didn't find it. Eventually he made his way back to where Leo was to see if there was anything he could do there. Leo saw him coming that time and waved. 

"Where have you been?" He asked, not pausing from his work. He was good at double-tasking, it seemed. Though Nico couldn't quite tell how what he was building was going to shape up to be a boat, he figured Leo understood how to build them better than he did.

"Just looking around the island."

"Find anything cool?"

"At least three different species of birds. So, if you like birds, then..." Nico shuddered.  _Why did he say that? That was stupid_ _._  

Leo cracked a smile (though "cracking a smile" for Leo really just meant he smiled wider than he already was). "So bored you were counting birds, huh?"

Nico shrugged. 

"There was some fishing stuff in the garden, just outside the cave."

"Fishing? Why would I need to fish?" There was plenty fruit in the garden. It wasn't like they were going to starve.

" _Me hungry. Need meat._ " 

Now  _that_  was stupid. Nico decided to ignore him. "I've never fished before." 

"What a coincidence. Me neither. But it can't be  _that_  hard. I mean, they've only been doing it since forever. They being every civilization ever."

"...Fair point. I... guess it's worth a try."

Leo nodded, clearly distracted. He was no longer double-tasking now, but instead appeared to be quadruple-tasking. Nico just decided to go and find the fishing supplies. He found them in the garden, where Leo said they would be. A simple fishing pole and two baskets - one small one holding hooks and lures (fashioned from bright feathers and thin pieces of some type of shiny rock) and another larger, tightly-woven one which he guessed was meant to keep caught fish in. He put the smaller basket in the larger one and carried everything back to Leo, who was rolling a log from further up the shore closer to the water. Nico stopped to drop the pole and lures and went to fill the large basket with water. He sat down as Leo fiddled with the pole. 

"It can't be that hard, right?" He repeated doubtfully.

"Surely not."

Leo handed the pole back to him.

"Alright, so... You... flick it, yeah?" He said. 

"Flick?"

Leo demonstrated with a half-hearted whipping motion.

"...You should probably move."

"Oh, right." Leo walked around to the left of him. "Give it a go, then."

Nico sighed, clumsily  _flicking_  the rod. The end of the line sailed out into the water.

"Perfect. Probably. Then when you get a bite, yank it real hard and reel it back in. Simple."

"Whatever you say."

"Trust me. I know  _everything._ "

"I'm sure..."

Nico didn't really mind fishing. It was boring, sure, but he let his mind wander while watching Leo work. He was still passionate, at least. Nico was afraid he would get bummed out, but he didn't seem at all discouraged. He rushed around, hands moving nonstop; nailing or sawing or marking, flipping various tools between his fingers, kicking up sand...

Nico's reflexes kicked in immediately, even with his wandering mind. The moment he felt a tug on the line, he jerked the rod back, his fingers fumbling to reel whatever he had caught.

 _Whatever he caught_  turned out to be fish, not quite as long as his forearm. Nico didn't recognize it, but Leo insisted it was  _probably_  safe to eat.

"Stuff that's poisonous is usually bright, right?" He reasoned. Nico didn't have anything to argue with.

After that, he retired from fishing for the day and wandered around the island yet again before settling back on the log to watch Leo. He would've offered a hand, but just seeing how he worked was enough to tell him that he would only get in the way. He was too fast, and he knew exactly what  _he_ needed to do without having to tell anyone else. It would be quicker if he just let him to his own thing, and being quick was the most important thing. They  _needed_  to get back to the ship. He couldn't hinder Leo's progress just to alleviate his own boredom.

Finally, the sky began to darken just a bit. He pointed this out to Leo, who said he would finish up what he was doing. There was a fire pit below the cave, so Nico began to put everything away and walked back there. He tossed some wood in the pit and a few minutes later Leo appeared to light the fire. He fumbled with the fish for a while longer than was probably necessary. He already had a knife out and a flat plank of wood to prepare it on. 

"I feel bad," He admitted.

"Just gut it. You were the one who wanted to eat it, anyways." Nico said, too tired to be frustrated. "Besides, it's only going to suffer more the longer you hold it like that."

Leo bit his lip and slid the knife through its belly. Nico watched him quietly. He wasn't very hungry, and there was nothing appetizing about fish guts, so he drank some water and watched the edges of the sky change color. Leo cooked, silent as well. Nico knew that wouldn't last. Leo always got anxious at silence.

"So, what were you doing before all of this?" He asked.

"...Not much. I stayed in the underworld, mostly. Training..."

"Oh. But, how do you know everyone?"

"I used to be in Camp Half-Blood, for a little while. And I fought in the war. I just didn't stick around."

"Well, why not?"

"Personal reasons. I couldn't stay there."

"But-"

"Drop it."

Leo was quiet. "Will you go back to Camp Jupiter, then?"

"I might visit. Why?"

"I was just wondering. Seems lonely."

"It's fine. I have my sister."

"Oh. It must be nice to be close to her."

Nico contemplated the meaning of that before answering. "You'll get closer with your siblings as well. If that's what you want." 

 "Yeah. I'd like that." Leo looked out at the ocean. "I hope they're moving on."

He was confused for a second, then realized he was no longer talking about his siblings. "There's no use in sitting still, they know that much. It's not like we'd pop out of the ocean. I'm sure they've made some progress."

"Hazel's probably worried about you."

Nico's chest tightened. He was right, but he didn't want to think about that. "...You're probably the main concern, though. You're actually part of the prophecy, you know."

Leo shrugged. "I'm just a mechanic."

"They only have one."

"Guess so."

Truth be told, Nico was glad he wasn't part of the seven. Sure, he was working hard anyways, but he was never interested in quests. He had nothing to gain from them. His father recognized him plenty enough as it was, and he had the freedom to go practically wherever he wanted. Though, after this, he planned to make the underworld his full-time home. He didn't need or want to go back to either of the camps, unless he was told to by his father. 

 Leo presumably finished cooking the fish. He picked at it, no longer at all apologetic towards the poor thing he was so reluctant to kill before. He plucked off a chunk of meat and offered it to Nico.

"...I'm not hungry."

"How's your body supposed to get used to eating if you never eat?" He pointed out.

Nico didn't feel like challenging that logic, so he gave in, taking the piece of fish and chewing on it slowly.

"So, the boat's coming along well."

"Good." The sooner it was done, the better.

"Yep. Then I'll probably spend a few sleepless days fixing the ship..."

"I'm sure they've taken care of it."

"Oh, yeah, sure, they've been taking good care of it. But the monsters? Probably not."

"They'll probably end up docking somewhere soon, at least. If they haven't already."

"It's still dangerous to be on land."

"Better than wrecking the whole ship."

Leo cringed at that. Nico couldn't blame him. The thought was unbearable - if they lost their ship, they had nothing. They needed to be able to travel by sea or air. Some places (like Ogygia, for example) weren't even accessible by land, even if they could survive the rest of the quest. With that in mind, Nico had no comforting words to offer. 

"Well," Leo finished up, rubbing his hands together. "All we can do is get out of here. I'm going to get some sleep."

"Okay."

"You coming?"

Nico shook his head. "I'm going to stay up a bit longer."

"...Oh. Well, goodnight."

Nico nodded, watching him disappear into the darkness. He waited until the fire died out and the stars finished rising up into the sky. He felt completely isolated. Unreachable. Not like that was all that unusual for him. Eventually he did grow tired, so he slowly made his way back into the cave. The light Leo left on just barely illuminated his bed. He seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Nico felt bad. He knew he would put an end to that soon. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for your patience. As you may have guessed, the fic is coming to a close soon - their stay at Ogygia won't be the end, but it won't go on much further than that. I don't have another project planned after this, but I hope I can keep producing things throughout the summer for all of you to enjoy! If you have any ideas or requests, be sure to send them to me either through the comments of this fic or my side-tumblr, dionysusdearest (though it's a bit broken at the moment, the ask function should work). I can't guarantee I'll write what you request, but I could use some prompts to get my mind jogging - anything at all helps. Hope you enjoy the chapter! <3

***Nico***

Nico woke in the middle of the night to Leo's hands on his shoulders and his tired face hovering above him, as was usual. It took him a few seconds to adjust to the other changes in his surroundings, though - he was in a cave, in Ogygia, with Leo - but once he recalled all of this, he noticed something was still out of place.

"Leo?" He sat up slowly, squinting through the dark.

He quickly wiped a hand across his face. Nico was right - he  _had_ been crying. His chest tightened with panic. 

"Sorry," He said quietly. Nico glanced past him at the stars, just barely visible through the entrance of the cave. It was the middle of the night, still a long ways from sunrise.

"Are you... okay?"

Leo laughed, quiet and forced. "Yeah. I was just thinking."

"About...?"

"Just... I dunno. Like... what  _if_ we don't get out of here? The prophecy needs us. Unless I outlived my usefulness?"

"Don't say that."

"It could be true, though. I'd rather think that then... that the world will end because we're stuck here."

That was a very real possibility that Nico had tried very hard to ignore. The prophecy called for  _Leo_. It didn't say he would die (not directly, at least, though you know how those things are) and Nico himself had an  _extremely_ useful power. What would happen without them?

A wave of anger overcame Nico. He stood, snatching his sword from the floor where he had abandoned it their first night and in one smooth movement slashed at the closest wardrobe. It thudded against the wall, wood splintering under the force of his blade. He hacked at it a few more times for good measure.  _Better. That feels better._

"...Nico?"

He whipped around, breathing hard. Leo flinched. 

"I did  _not_ come this far to die on this  _stupid_ island. The only reason I'm even here is because I have a purpose to fulfill. This world is cruel... some of the people here... are disgusting... but," His body trembled, his lack of energy bringing him down from his temper tantrum. He took a shaky breath, struggling to organize his thoughts. "it's still worth saving... To be honest, at this point I don't even think I care! I'm just too invested to quit now. I'm starved, scarred, and  _completely_ exhausted, but no matter what, I'm finishing what I came here to do. So _you_ , Leo, are going to build that boat, and we're going to have to sail out of here, or we'll just keep trying. I don't care what it takes, or how long we have to try. We're leaving. That's  _final._ "

Leo was silent. Nico watched as tears began to stream down his face.

 _...Was that too harsh?_  He wondered numbly as he crumbled to the floor.

 

***Leo***

 It took Leo a while to lift him onto the bed. He wasn't very strong, but luckily Nico wasn't very heavy, either. Still, it would've been harder to drag him all the way to the other side of the cave where  _his_ bed was. And he seemed really cold. Could Leo have slept in the corner in his place? He'd pretend the thought hadn't crossed his sleepy mind. There - he had lined up all his excuses for the next time they'd wake up. Truthfully, he just ddn't feel right leaving Nico on his own. And he appreciated the feeling of another person beside him. It was comforting. Like reaching out a hand and feeling the rumble of an engine beside you as you slept. But different, because he didn't have to reach out his hand to notice Nico's presence there. He turned his head towards the wall so they were back-to-back, too flustered to face even the back of his head.

Yes, flustered. Leo wasn't an idiot, nor was he unfamiliar with the feeling of a budding crush. What did him in? He had definitely _noticed_ Nico a while ago, but that speech... The expression on his face - the pure inspired rage, his strong resolve. The suddenly overwhelming emotions that seemed ever absent from him and always present in Leo. He was shocked and charmed, but also overwhelmed and confused, so he was waiting for his tears to leave him and his words to return. Nico collapsed the next second, though. Fortunately, he seemed to see it coming; he fell to his knees first, then to his side, his head landing safely on his arms instead of hitting the cave floor. Leo was grateful for this. He had no experience dealing with concussions.

Anyways, Leo was well versed in his current emotions. And as much as he dreaded dealing with them, he was happy that at least A. Nico woudn't try to kill him and B. Nico probably wasn't getting a girlfriend any time soon. As far as his past romantic interests had gone, this was one of the least painful ones. He slept, hoping that he would wake up at sunrise again so he could get back to working right away. He couldn't afford to worry about world-ending scenarios. He had to focus, and that was that.

Something woke him up a few hours later. He leaned over the side of the bed, noting the soft light outside in the back of his mind. Nico was sprawled out on the floor, the blanket still partly wrapped around him. He stared up at Leo, expressionless.

"Good morning," Leo said.

He sighed, rolling over onto his side and shaking his legs free from the sheet. He didn't say anything. Leo didn't either. For a little bit, at least.

"Did you sleep well? You didn't wake up again."

"...Yes. I didn't dream much."

"Good. Maybe passing out is the key to a good night's rest?"

Nico chuckled - well, kinda of; he really just made a deep, quiet  _heh_ sound and shook his head. "I don't want to make a habit of it."

"Darn." Leo shivered as his feet met the cold floor. "...I'm hungry. You gonna fish again today?"

"Sure."

"That girl must have had some kind of recipe book or something around here, right? The real curse would be eating fruit and fish for all of an eternity."

"I'm sure there used to be much more in that garden before it rotted. Still, it's weird that there's not much else on this island to eat outside of there."

"Other than birds. And bugs, I guess," Leo cringed. "Not that I would ever eat a bug."

"...I don't know. I think I would." 

Leo was taken aback. "Like a spider?" 

"Eugh. No. Like... a cricket, or something." 

"What? How is that any better?"

"It just  _is_. Besides, people all over the world eat bugs. If they could get over it, you could too."

"You must travel around a lot to get used to something like that."

"...Yeah, I guess I do."

Leo hesitated too long thinking of a response and Nico made himself busy going through Calypso's stuff again. A conversation about eating bugs.  _Smooth._  Leo felt at least somewhat accomplished, though. He was pretty sure that was one of the longer conversations they'd held where Nico actually responded with anything other than  _"Yeah"_ and  _"Okay"_. He was anxious to get back to work anyways, so he got back to the boat. Nico emerged a while later, sitting at the same spot as before, the baskets at his feet and a bored expression on his face. Leo felt bad - he at least had something to occupy his mind with. Nico was staring at the ocean. He turned back to his work. A while later, he heard a splash and the whirling of the rod. He stopped to watch Nico as he struggled to get the fish off the hook and into the basket. He wanted to yell something encouraging but lost his nerve too quickly. He went back to working for a while until he got bored enough to call for a lunch break.

He speared the fish that Nico caught and thought hard about what to say.

"You alright?" He decided to ask. Nico looked up - he had been staring at his feet.

"...Yeah. What about you? You seemed pretty..." He hesitated. "...messed up last night."

"Oh, I'm fine. I feel a lot better after, um... what you said."

"Huh. Glad I could help."

There was silence again, which made Leo nervous, but he felt like he should give Nico a chance to start the conversation. If he even wanted to talk. 

"Er... sleeping on the floor is a lot less comfortable than I thought it'd be..."

"Ah..." Leo wasn't sure what to say to that. He guessed he could build another bed - though that would be a waste of time. Nico raised his eyebrows at the ocean, exhaling heavily. "...Oh. Oh! _Ahem_ \- you're welcome to share the bed again. Just try not to fall off."

"I was surprised." He shrugged, still looking away. "...thanks."

"No prob."

He was kind of glad to hear that, actually, though the thought of regularly... sharing a bed with Nico made his heart race. He felt sort of lonely, both from the lack of people and lack of noise. The island had plenty of sounds of its own, sure, but chirping bugs and the ocean just didn't do much for him. Nothing compared to the rumble of an engine. He couldn't reach out and feel the warmth of a running machine, but when he was so close to Nico he could hear his pulse in his ears... he guessed that was close enough. Besides, it seemed to help Nico out some. Maybe.

Nico ate a bit again. Leo tried to fill him in on the progress he was making with the boat without being too boring, but mostly time passed by uneventfully, and soon he was back to work. When the sun set, Leo found himself just that much closer to their goal. Noon tomorrow. By noon tomorrow, they would set out again.

It had to work this time. It just  _had_ to. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty, the next chapter will be the conclusion to everything, so... I'm kinda anxious to get this out. Please forgive any errors and also the probably slightly ooc Jason. I did a lot of fact-checking with the book when I first wrote this concerning who was where and doing what and now that I think of it I kinda missed a huge plot point buuuut... well, you guys seem to enjoy it anyways so I guess I'll just leave that be haha. All it would've added was angst (not that we don't all love some angst, right?). I'll try and get the last chapter out soon and wrap everything up, but this is effectively the end of the narrative chapters. The last bit will be sort of an epilogue, it's just a summary with a sweet ending. Hope you all like it either way!
> 
> **Edit, 7/28/18**  
> Y'all I am SO sorry I haven't gotten around to updating this in so long. Like I said, this is the last "real" chapter, but I feel bad not having gotten out the epilogue yet. I can't make any promises, but hang in there - I do intend to finish this at some point. The last chapter is just waiting to be written.

***Nico***

Nico felt awkward climbing into bed with Leo. 

He supposed the last time he slept with someone was back at the Lotus Casino. Which was probably much more recent than most kids his age. Still.

Leo did his part to alleviate the tension. He stared up at the ceiling, commenting on how he hoped they would get out fine the next day. Nico had his doubts, but he didn't dare voice them. They both needed this to work.

He imaged Hazel's smiling face when he returned. He wanted to be able to smile back, but the expression was unfamiliar. He thought of how Leo was always smiling, prompting him to glance over at the boy to see if he was right then. They made eye contact and Leo quickly looked away.  _What? Is he scared of me?_

"I'm not  _that_ scary, right?" He asked, the words spilling out of his mouth before he had fully thought them through.

"Huh? Uh, well, sort of. When you're mad, at least. But... nah. Usually you just look sad."

"...I see."

"I don't think I've ever seen you smile." He added.

"Not many have had the pleasure."

"Do you  _want_ people to be scared of you?"

"Not really. It's nice sometimes. Makes you feel powerful."

"I don't think anyone could be scared of me."

"Anyone can become scary if they're pushed too far." Nico paused. "It'd probably take a while to break you, though."

"...Thanks?"

"You're optimistic. Kind. Energetic -"

"- All charming qualities, I know, -"

"- The point is, you'd probably never end up like me. I hope not."

"Why not? Don't you want a scary friend?"

"It wouldn't do me any good. Just be you."

Leo stayed silent for a moment. "...So we  _are_ friends?"

Nico considered it. "Yes, Leo. We  _are_ friends. If you want."

"Nice."

"As long as I won't be a bad influence on you."

"Nah. I've been told I'm hard to break."

Nico grinned slightly at that. Leo was funny, he had to give him that. He couldn't see himself laughing any time soon, but lately he found being with Leo just made him feel  _better_.

It was just good.

 

***Leo***

Leo carefully navigated the mess of sheets and limbs piled on the bed. Nico didn't  _need_ to get up yet, and if he could sleep just a little longer then he should. But Leo was far too excited to sleep any longer. He got to work immediately, barely noticing Nico had woken up until he walked over and mumbled a  _good morning._ Leo told him the boat was almost ready, and he nodded sleepily. Then, to his surprise, Nico walked a few steps forward and plopped down into the water. Leo stifled a laugh as he watched his baggy clothing balloon around him. 

"What are you doing?"

"We haven't showered in days," He explained, ducking his head under the water. 

"I miss showers. I hope the ship's plumbing is still intact." He paused. "I hope some of the ship's plumbing is still intact." 

Leo watched Nico for a moment longer before tossing down his tools and joining him in the water.

"Man, this place wouldn't be so bad if it was less abandoned." 

"I guess not. I'm not really into the tropics, though." Nico said. They weren't looking at each other. Leo was floating on his back in the shallow water.

"I kind of like it. Doesn't beat a nice workshop, though. And it'd be nice if the world wasn't ending." He stood back up. "I'd better get finished."

"I washed the salt out of our clothes yesterday. They're in the garden. Should be dry by now."

"Thanks."

He went back to the cave and quickly changed before putting the finishing touches on their boat. Nico returned soon after, now wearing his own clothes again. Leo imagined all that black must have been hot. No wonder he went for a dip beforehand. 

"If we don't make it back, we're finding that recipe book." Leo said, struggling to push the boat just a bit further out into the water. Nico joined him.

"Of course."

"...And we'll have to figure out how we're supposed to shower."

"Also reasonable."

Leo clumsily climbed up onto the boat and held out a hand for Nico. Once they were both there, he unfurled the sail. 

"Hold on to something," He advised as he felt the wind pick up behind them. That was lucky. Or maybe it wasn't luck at all. Didn't matter, the boat needed wind to move and Leo was happy something was finally willing to work with them for once.

Nico wordlessly sat against the inside of the boat, gripping the wood tightly. Leo took a deep breath as the boat scooted further away from the shore, quickly approaching open water. He looked down for a moment and saw that Nico's eyes were shut tight. He must have been praying as hard as he could that they would escape. They already lost valuable time - three more days for a third try felt like it might as well have been a death sentence. He waited tensely for the waves to rise and throw them around, but after a minute of peaceful sailing, Leo dared to glance back.

Leo yelled, causing Nico to shoot up and spin around. Water. All around them. The boat began to rock - not violently, just in the way that a boat tends to rock when it's in the middle of the ocean instead of off the shore of a magic island. Nico steadied himself, grinning. It was an awkward, unpracticed smile, but a real one nonetheless. Leo stepped closer to him, leaning forward, delighted and amazed. He didn't even feel Nico's hand on his own until he looked down. Nico faced him, surprised as well but still smiling. His heart slowed, their wide smiles shifting into soft expressions as they hovered closer, closer -

A horn sounded in the distance, making the both of them jump. The land seemed to have materialized around them, as though the open water they had just been in was some sort of transition between worlds. Or something. Whatever the reason, there was land nearby, and a dock where he could leave their boat. He turned back to Nico, who had turned his head towards the land as well.

 _Moment: ruined._ Still, he was far too happy about being back to feel bitter. He'd worry about Nico after they had docked and contacted the others. For now, all he wanted was to get off the boat. And get off the boat he would. 

 

***Nico***

Leo was reluctant to sleep alone. Nico was reluctant to sleep in the engine room. They made a compromise.

Were they a thing now? Nico wasn't entirely sure. He wasn't even really sure what being a  _thing_ entailed. What he  _was_ sure of, though, was that whatever he had felt on that boat, Leo had felt it, too. There was some level of security in that. So, that night, when they shadow-traveled the short distance into his room, he didn't bring it up. Instead, he listened to Leo's complaints about the damage done to his ship.

"It's a miracle we got back when we did. This place was falling apart." He shook his head, exhausted. "I'm thinking of building a robo-Leo so I can take a day off."

"We vacationed on a tropical island. I think that counts as a day off."

"It might've been a vacation for you, but in case you hadn't noticed  _I_ was working all day every day."

"Would you rather build new boats every day or repair this one?"

Leo squinted at him. "Planning my torture for the afterlife already? Not cool."

Nico chuckled. "As if I have much say in that."

"Much? So you do have  _some_ say?"

"Sure. I'll put in a good word. But most heroes are destined for a comfortable afterlife anyways."

"I guess that's what happens when your job is to save the world."

"Guess so."

"Well at least I know I'll have _those_ days off."

"If those are your only days off, I'm afraid I'm going to have to hope you'll be working for a long, long time."

"Me too, Nico. Me too."

"...We'd better get to sleep."

"...Yeah." He flicked the light off and stumbled in the dark towards the bed. Nico's heart pounded as Leo settled in beside him.

It was quiet, but nothing about it was awkward. There was constant gentle noises - soft breathing, the sound of wind outside the ship, creaking wood. Nico slept peacefully through the whole night until he woke to Jason knocking on his door. He pulled himself up, climbing over Leo who had woken up from the noise as well. He motioned for him to move out of view of the door and cracked it open.

"Morning. We can't find Leo."

" _That's_ what you woke me up for?"

"And it's breakfast and you need to eat."

He sighed. He wasn't really looking forward to having a meal with everyone, but at least he could stomach some amount of food now. 

"And also Leo's missing."

"Are you sure he's not just hiding from you people?"

"Why would he be hiding?"

Nico stared at him. "Who left that big black burn mark on the deck of his precious ship?"

"It was a defensive measure! I don't strike things with lightning for fun."

"And there's fruit all over the sails?"

"...That was Piper. Again, defensive!"

"I wonder why he would be avoiding you."

"...Fine, alright. But if he doesn't show up to breakfast we're going to start searching for real." 

"Fine then. You all have fun with that. I'm getting dressed."

He shut the door in Jason's face but still heard his muffled  _"Alright, see you"_ which he ignored. He waited for a moment before shrugging at Leo. 

"I'll take you to the engine room?" He offered.

"Thanks. I would be avoiding them if I had a place to hide."

"You'd better pretend you do. We'll never hear the end of it if they find out where you've been."

"That would be  _mortifying_." 

He paused, staring at the ceiling.

"I kind of want to tell them."

" _No._ "

Leo only grinned in response. Nico knew he wouldn't actually do it, but he wondered silently if the impulse was to embarrass him or if it was part of Leo's show-off nature. If  _he_ was now something to show off. And again there was that question: What  _were_ they? Close -  _really_ close - friends? He didn't want to voice the question right then and there, but there would come a time for it. Surely.

 

***Leo***

 Leo made his way up to Nico once the deck was empty and was reminded again of that impression of stoic-ness he got from him a week prior. Nico turned and sunk down to the floor of the crow's nest and Leo settled beside him, feeling as though they were somehow invisible to the rest of the world. No one below could see them. No one outside could see in. He leaned over, speaking in a low tone despite that.

"On the way back from Ogygia, on the boat," Was all he said. He hadn't planned on more. He figured he would just wing it. 

Nico nodded, waiting for him to continue.

"...That's all I got. Sorry. Should I have prepared a speech?"

"...What..." Nico hesitated, as though he wasn't sure what he wanted to ask. "What  _are_ we?"

"I believe the technical term is  _homo sapi-_ "

Leo had never seen Nico move as fast as he did when he hit him. He hissed, moving a hand to his arm, knowing it was going to bruise later. 

"I could kill you. Really."

"Just trying to lighten the mood,"

"I'm being serious."

"I don't do serious well."

"I've noticed."

"Okay, okay, I'll be serious." He took a deep breath." ...Logically thinking about it, don't we act like a couple?"

"...Yes."

"An so... if we  _act_ like a couple, wouldn't that make us a couple?"

"...Go on..."

"So... that means... we're a couple."

"Yes."

"Alright. Done and done. Now who can I tell?  I figure it doesn't matter, since no matter who I tell I'm sure Jason will hear about it and then it'll be all around the ship and probably the camp - well, both camps probably - so how about we just cut to the chase and-"

"No."

"Figured. We'll save it for after the quest, then?"

"...Sounds like a plan."

"I hate waiting for things. Oh, well."

"I guess I'll be sticking around camp after all." Nico sighed, sinking down further into the floor.

"I'm really inconveniencing you, huh?"

"Let's hope it's worth it."

"It will be. I'll make sure of it."


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long. Felt suddenly very uninspired to finish this, despite being on the literal last chapter.

For the rest of the quest, Nico and Leo pretended they weren't gradually falling deeper and deeper in love with each other. Up until they were separated, Nico felt like he had taken on a separate personality - during the day, when he was surrounded with the others, he'd act the same disgruntled, brooding way he had before. But on occasion he'd feel Leo's hand slip around his waist or his chin resting on his shoulder and he's dissolve into something softer and a lot less angry.

He stopped screaming at night. Hazel commented on it, seeming to know that Leo planned to soundproof his room. He told her he had taken care of it. All seemed fine; not perfect by a long shot, but he had something secure to fall back on. They finish the quest, win the war, save the world, and Nico can go back to camp and try to live a normal demigod's life. Whatever that meant. 

Then, during Nico's little quest to take the statue back to camp, he get's an Iris message from Leo.

He said it wouldn't be fair to not warn him. He filled him in on his thoughts. _To storm or fire_. Leo planned to kill Gaea. He just wouldn't say  _how_.

"You can't." Nico couldn't stop thinking that. Leo  _couldn't_. 

Leo smiled, more apologetic than sad. "I gotta."

"You'll die."

"I won't die. Promise."

"You don't know that. Let -" He felt a pang of guilt before the words even left his mouth. "- Jason handle it. Let Jason do it."

That made more sense, as much as it made him sick that he wanted it. Because Jason was strong, and he was a hero. And someone was going to die, and they couldn't afford to be gambling lives when they were already given the chance to save one. If Jason was meant to die fighting Gaea, so be it - they had the cure. But if Leo failed, and both he and Jason were killed by the end of it, who would they save? How were they supposed to choose? Is two dead friends better than deciding which one gets to live? 

Leo paused, and for a single hopeful moment Nico thought he might be rethinking. 

"I swear on the River Styx-"

" _Don't you dare-_ "

"-I won't be killed by Gaea. Not for good."

" _Leo-_ "

"Trust me. I know what I'm doing. Now, wipe those tears off your face and get that statue back to camp."

Nico hadn't even realized he was crying. He just watched as Leo passed a hand through the mist. The Iris message ended, and Nico was left praying that he wouldn't be held to that oath.

 

*******

Nico was sure he screamed when Leo exploded. He felt it burst from his chest, ripping out of his throat as he fell over into Will, who gently lowered him to the ground. He knew he screamed, but he couldn't hear it. A few words passed through his panicked mind. 

_Oath._

_Cure._

_Vaporized._

_Dead. He's dead. And you can't cure scattered ashes of death._

Festus flew haphazardly, clearly disoriented. But soon he landed a ways away. Nico buried his face in Will's chest. He didn't want to see. He imagined a black stain on the dragon - a vague imprint of the boy who promised he wouldn't die.  _Promised. You promised._

Will suddenly pulled him up rather roughly. Nico stumbled as he realized he was being pulled towards Festus.  _I don't want to see I don't want to see I don't want to see -_

"Ugh... How long was I out...? Did we win?"

Followed by a sharp slapping sound. Nico looked up and saw Piper being lifted away by a pair of arms around her waist, legs kicking wildly as Leo held a hand to his red cheek. He was grinning.

...And also naked, Nico realized, as he was covered only by a greasy towel. He darted behind Festus and emerged fully clothed. Will helped Nico limp over to him. 

Nico didn't register leaving the support of Will's arms, nor did he recall hitting Leo, but evidently he did both. The latter quite hard, and roughly eight times. 

"Woah, Nico-" Jason began to step towards them, but Piper grabbed his arm and shook her head.

"You're such a  _fucking_ idiot, I could  _kill_ you right now!"

"After all the trouble I went through to keep myself alive? That's not very fair."

He looked hard into Leo's face, still bubbling with anger and intending to get one more good punch in to his arm. But he didn't. He kissed him instead - which was something he would later be embarrassed about, but definitely wouldn't regret. The others laughed. Not at them, but more because it was such a sudden rush of happiness to be experienced by all. The war was over. They had won. Leo was back.

There was peace, love, and a happy ending. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaand there it is. Glad you waited so long for it? I did warn this was just an epilogue basically... so no alternating perspectives, and it's not as detailed. Hopefully it at least leaves you all feeling warm and fuzzy, though.  
> Now that I've finished this, I have no more fic ideas! So... yeah. Unless I get some requests or something, I doubt I'll be uploading a new fic any time soon. Though, who knows; maybe when school starts back up I'll write a continuation to this. It won't be plot heavy, though. More like my other fic, it'll just be some character study stuff and some fluff.


End file.
